Silverstone, FP2: Verstappen continues to set the pace

Max Verstappen continued to set the pace in the second practice session for the 2023 FIA Formula 1 British Grand Prix, with the Dutchman taking top spot just two hundredths of a second ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Williams continued the good work it put in during the morning session, with Alex Albon repeating his P3 from FP1. There was frustration for Charles Leclerc, however, with the Ferrari driving missing the whole session due to an electrical issue.

The start of the session was delayed by five minutes so the track could be swept following several offs and crashes occurring in the FIA Formula 2 Champion qualifying session and when running began AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries was first on track.

It was Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez who set the early pace, however, with a time of 1:30.014. Verstappen soon beat that with a lap of 1:29.550, which stood for the next few minutes. Pérez eventually fought back, however, with a lap of 1:29.451. Sainz then popped up with 1:29.083 that put him in front of Perez and rounded out the initial period spent on medium and hard tyres.

Verstappen was the first of the frontrunners to appear for qualifying simulations on soft tyres and he powered to purple times in all three sectors to set a new benchmark of 1:28.078.

Pérez followed him, 0.264s behind, but he was moved back to fourth, first by Albon and then by Sainz, who posted a 1:28.100 to take P2, just 0.022s adrift of Verstappen.

The pack then switched to longer runs, De Vries brought the session to a close when he sustained a puncture late in the session. The blow out occurred when the Dutch driver braked for the Village right-hander. The Dutchman was able to return to the pits after briefly stopping inside the next turn, The Loop.

With Pérez forth, fifth place went to Williams’ rookie Logan Sargeant, the American driver underling the good work being put in by Williams. Sixth place went to Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, with Nico Hulkenberg in seventh for Haas. Pierre Gasly took eighth for Alpine ahead of Oscar Piastri, while Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10.

Alonso also had his soft tyre lower fuel run interrupted, as Aston order him to quickly slow after he crossed the line following his flying lap as it had detected debris causing "a problem", although it did not report this as a puncture. Zhou Guanyu was 11th for Alfa Romeo with Mercedes’ George Russell in P12, three ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Leclerc, however, missed the entire session. Ferrari identified an electrical issue on his car ahead of FP2 but the problem could not be solved during the session and Leclerc didn’t turn a lap.